Area hospitals prepping to change mass casualty drills

TRIANGLE (WTVD) -- Area trauma centers are preparing to make changes to their emergency plans in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.

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"This one is just very concerning and sad to see the number of casualties that there are," WakeMed Emergency Services Director Barb Bisset. It's challenging for any trauma center to be able to handle that."

There are three Level 1 trauma centers in the Triangle. There are at Duke, UNC, and WakeMed hospital.

Staff at WakeMed said they'll drill for a mass casualty event several times a year.

"When you think of the number of gunshot wounds that could come to at one time, it can be overwhelming," said Bisset. "But that's why you truly never can practice enough because we have our practice our communications, we have to practice how our systems work, we have to practice how we triage."

WakeMed will practice setting up an entire mobile hospital in the field.

Duke University Hospital officials said in a statement:

"Duke University Hospital maintains emergency operations plans and procedures to guide staff during all types of emergency events, including mass casualty incidents that can stem from mass shootings. These plans and policies are reviewed and tested through multiple drills and exercises every year."

UNC also said officials are analyzing how to improve operations.

"It's our responsibly to look at what happened and how we can improve our response," said UNC Director of Crisis Management Dalton Sawyer. "We have to always be looking at the next impact for us."

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